Just Do It

Urban Farm Bike Tour

by Jakob Dorof

Sat., July 19, 8:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m., donation suggested, begins at Weavers Way Co-op Farm, 215-843-2350; visit weaversway.coop for registration info and directions

Finding anything more agrarian than a Whole Foods in this city is no easy task. But a closer look (or some sorta-creepy Google Earthing) reveals that an increasing number of Philly farms are gradually sprouting to the surface. There's the new Teens4Good farm in NoLibs; Spring Gardens at 18th and Wallace; and with their new Seeds for Learning program, the students at Martin Luther King High School now harvest fruits and vegetables between games of football and soccer.

"At each stop, we have an opportunity to talk to the farmers and see how they interact with people in the city," explains Weavers Way board member (and City Paper co-founder) Chris Hill, who started the tour in 2006. Hill says that aside from simply being a refreshing summer pastime, the tour often leaves cyclists in awe of just how much these little farms can achieve. The Mill Creek Farm, for example, manages to pack agriculture, beekeeping, biodiesel, community workshops, solar power and other reuse techniques into half an acre of West Philadelphia.

To go with all that inspiration, the tour will be capped off with a cold beer and pizza in Kensington at Philadelphia Brewing Co. Participants are encouraged to bring a small donation (Weavers Way suggests a tenner) to benefit the farms and help pay for the post-tour victuals.